Johns Creek Student Wins Young Eco-Hero Award

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Evan Barnard, a student at Johns Creek High School, is a third-place winner of Action For Nature’s 2015 International Young Eco-Hero Award.

Barnard will be honored for his project, Bringing Nature to the Visually Impaired, at a reception Oct. 24 in San Francisco.

Barnard has always had a love and appreciation for the great outdoors. It is something he believes everyone should have access to and fully enjoy.

That belief is what led him to embark upon a journey to make nature trails more accessible to the visually impaired. After a chance encounter with a representative of the Nature Conservancy, Evan got involved with cleaning and repairing the Big Pine Braille nature trail, which had been vandalized, at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center.

Wanting to do more, Barnard met with the Rome Chapter of the Georgia Council of the Blind (GCB) to tell them about the trail and encourage members to use it.

Over the next couple of years he spread the message that nature is for everyone. Evan has worked closely with the GBC, has presented at a GCB State meeting, and has spoken on the Georgia Reading Radio Service show, “Eye on Blindness.”

Information about the Big Pine trail was posted on the International Braille blog, and Barnard has received emails from visually impaired people all over the country about trails in their communities and how they would like to have a local Braille trail. He also organized and led a trail hike for 25 visually impaired people.

Barnard recently organized the construction of a new Braille trail, the Whispering Woods Braille Trail. The trail, built by students, community volunteers, and members of the visually impaired community, has been completed and dedicated.

Barnard is now working with legislators to promote increased outdoor access for the visually impaired on a national level.

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Photo credit: Gloria Barron Prize For Young Heroes